1. Field of the Disclosure
Aspects of this disclosure relate to using short-range communication technology, such as Bluetooth technology, and personal devices, such as smartphones, for communication systems, such as response and tracking systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
The “background” description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present invention.
Bluetooth is a short-range Radio Frequency (RF) technology that works in the 2.4 GHz ISM band and is capable of point-to-multipoint connections at speeds up to 1 Mbps. Bluetooth is widely available in smartphones, and has been widely used to provide wireless connectivity between smartphones as well as between a smartphone and external devices such as laptops, headsets and gaming devices. Bluetooth signals do not require line-of-sight, and can penetrate some physical barriers with a range up to 10 meters.
U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2010/0062712, published Mar. 11, 2010, discloses a Bluetooth enabled identification device for Bluetooth based identification, communication, and tracking. Bluetooth hardware is used as identification of location through a 48 bit unique hardware address and password-based identification.
WO/2012/034086, published Mar. 15, 2012, discloses a classroom response system. Network connectivity is formed between devices, and a student can respond to an instructor via the network connectivity.